Paulo
Paulo is the second male protagonist in the webcomic Bittersweet Candy Bowl. He made his debut in the comic's first chapter, Simple Pleasures. Unlike Mike, Daisy, Lucy and David, Paulo was not born in Roseville. Born in the city of Marashino, Paulo and his father relocated to Roseville when Paulo was in the 5th grade. He was enrolled in the same elementary school as the other main characters, and continued to go to the same schools as them. Personality Bold and brazen, Paulo is a tall, womanizing Somali, known for his crude sense of humor, flirtatious behavior, and cocky disposition. Although he can be incredibly immature, rude, temperamental, homophobic and egotistical, he can also be incredibly loyal, protective, fun, easygoing, and even a great listener, as shown in various moment with his friends throughout the comic. Most of Paulo's negative traits and his tough front seem to have been brought out due to a certain experience in Misunderstanding and Change. Desperate to impress Lucy (his crush at the time), Paulo took advice from Alejandro and changed for the worse, much to the dismay of Lucy, who rejected him for being "just like the rest of them". It seems like Paulo does not remember Alejandro, as he claimed to not have recognized him in Confrontation. As the chapters have progressed, Paulo's character has experienced significant character development. It seems, for the most part, his womanizing ways have stopped, and his blatant homophobia seems to be coming to an end, as shown in Boy Toy, where Paulo began to question his sexuality. Paulo seems to be particularly biased and protective when it comes to his female friends, namely Lucy and Daisy, often disregarding the mistakes they make concerning others and quickly hopping to their side, defending them no matter what. Concerning Lucy, this is shown in both Pick Me Up and Happy Hour, where Paulo blatantly ignored the role Lucy played in the end of her and Mike's friendship. Instead of holding her accountable for her actions, he quickly jumps to her side and blames everything on Mike. Similarly, in Take Heart, Daisy inadvertently reveals her lingering feelings for Mike to her current boyfriend Abbey, which leads to their break up. Instead of considering things from Abbey's point of view as well, he quickly rushes to Daisy's side, says some less-than-kind things to Abbey, and convinces him to get back with Daisy. Paulo has been shown to be a pretty good athlete. He is one of the physically strongest male characters of the series, has a knack for climbing, and seems to be pretty well-rounded when it comes to most sports, despite usually being second-best when compared to Mike or David. Paulo only has one known fear. In the chapters Off to the Movies, Misunderstanding and Change and Confrontation, it is shown that Paulo has a phobia of barking. Despite Paulo's shortcomings, he is incredibly loyal to his friends and does whatever he can when they're in need. Volume One 1. Simple Pleasures Paulo is introduced in the first chapter, Simple Pleasures. He is seen skateboarding with David, subsequently slapping Lucy's butt upon running into her, and successfully convincing her to skateboard with him using his "boyish charm". While trying to flirt with Lucy, his skateboard hits a turtle, causing he and Lucy to fall, though Lucy is conveniently caught by Mike. Mike yells at Paulo to stop skateboarding in an area where its not allowed, and Paulo basically tells Mike to "lay off". David, worried about getting in trouble with "park rangers" and "park bears" for skateboarding illegally, grabs Paulo and carries him off screen. 4. Unfit for Education Paulo appears briefly and agrees to try a test that Sue has set up for her science fair project. 5. The Burden of Parenthood The group's Sex-Ed teacher assigns a project where students must pair up and take care of a mechanical baby. The teacher pairs Paulo with Lucy, and Paulo gives a flirtatious greeting to Lucy upon hearing this. After school ends, Paulo meets up with Lucy, and takes the baby after flirting with Lucy again, much to her annoyance. Lucy tries to teach Paulo how to hold a baby correctly, and Daisy shows up, commenting that the way Paulo holds his "baby" is "precious". Irritated with her partner (Mike), Daisy asks Paulo to hold Alegria (the name of Daisy's "baby"), and Paulo subsequently falls in love with Daisy's "baby". Everyone switches partners in the end, with Mike and Lucy raising a "baby" together and Paulo and Daisy raising one together as well. He goes as far as buying a baby carriage, and is told that he and Daisy had the best result in the class when the project is due. He is visibly saddened that he has to let Alegria go at the end of the chapter, having grown attached to the doll. 6. Prom Preparation Daisy, who is in charge of the 8th grade dance, is asking students what kind of music they would like to play at their prom. When asking David (who replies with Weird Al Yankovic), Paulo comments that David's taste in music is childish. Paulo insists that the music should be "raunchy", in order to let the men show off how "manly" they are. After Daisy takes down the music choices, Mike receives a barrage of prom requests, to which Paulo tells him he should "go with all of them". Mike laments not going to prom, because he'd like to go with Lucy (who claims she isn't going), to which Paulo (and David) say that they'll take Lucy instead. After Mike rejects the majority of the girls, Paulo continues to insist that he should go with all of them because "monogomy is dead", to which Daisy reveals that Paulo is actually waiting on a special, girl and wishes to settle down at some point. Paulo confided this in Daisy off screen in The Burden of Parenthood. 7. Helping Hands The chapter opens with a tired Paulo walking and talking with Daisy. Daisy screams when she notices a half-dead bird on the road, and begins to cry on Paulo's chest. He blushes, attempts to comfort Daisy, but also tries to avoid physical contact with her. A car begins to approach the bird, and, seeing how visibly upset Daisy is about this, Paulo jumps out onto the road, nearly getting hit by a car, to save the bird. The car honks at him, to which Paulo responds rudely. Daisy gives him a disapproving look, and scolds him about taking dangerous risks, lamenting that he could have "ended up like the bird". Trying to decide where to take the bird, Daisy suggests Lucy since she's nearby, and Paulo starts drooling over her. While talking, Daisy nearly gets hit by a car because she doesn't realize that she's standing in the road. Paulo playfully comments that she shouldn't scold him when she's been standing in the road the entire time. While trying to decide who should keep the bird, Daisy suggests Paulo because he showed her how caring he was when he helped her "raise" Alegria. Paulo is visibly embarrassed and asks Daisy to stop bringing it up. She tries to encourage him to show that side of him more often, since "girls like mature guys". It begins to rain, Daisy's fur begins to get curlier, and when asked if he's grossed out by her fur, Paulo blushes, ignored her question, and insists that they hurry and get the bird to Lucy's. After giving the bird to Lucy, Daisy dries off her fur, gets saddened by how Mike saw her when she looked "gross", and Paulo attempts to cheer her up by saying if Mike was worth her time, he'd like her no matter how bad she looked. Lucy kicks Daisy and Paulo out of her house when Daisy asks to stay so that she can be with Mike. The next day at school, Paulo and Daisy ask how the bird is doing. Lucy says that "he left us last night", and Paulo and Daisy think she means that the bird died, when he actually just flew away the night before. Lucy then gives Paulo and Daisy a nest, saying it was a gift from the bird for saving his life. Lucy also reveals that the bird gave them the nest because he thought they were a couple, claiming that the nest is a "perfect place to rest their offspring after they mate". Lucy sarcastically asks, "Isn't that sweet?". Paulo and Daisy both scream "no". The bird that Paulo and Daisy rescued is most likely Error. 8. Show and Tell Paulo reveals that he is a Somali. Lucy and Daisy seem to find this attractive. Lucy slips by saying that his breed is "cool", but quickly catches herself and calls him a scumbag. He tells her that Somalis are most likely a guilty pleasure for her, and she kicks him. 9. Pep Rally Mike is worried about the pep rally. Paulo insists it's because he's "excited" about seeing the cheerleaders in miniskirts. He's later shown with a nosebleed at the end of the pep rally, commenting about how "awesome" it was. 10. Off to the Movies Paulo, David and Daisy run into Mike and Lucy at the movies. They all agree to see a movie together. Paulo flirts with Lucy and gets thrown into the popcorn machine. He wants to see a scary movie, but Lucy suggests a movie that encompasses all of the genres that the group wants to see. Paulo attempts to sit next to Lucy, but is rejected, and winds up next to Daisy instead. Paulo tries to take some of David's popcorn, gets barked at, and has a frightened look on his face, hinting at his fear of barking. Daisy is the only one to take notice. The movie begins to get emotional and Paulo tries not to cry, but winds up crying anyways as they leave the theater. Daisy notices, asks why he's crying, and Paulo gets defensive, claiming that the "dumb slut" in the movie was not worth crying over. Daisy says she'll forget all about Paulo's crying if he explains to her why David's barking startled her. He refuses, and leaves. Daisy and the rest of the gang follow him and Daisy continues to ask and he eventually opens up to her. He tells her that before he moved to Roseville, he went to go play at a park and was bullied by four dogs. They "barked him right out of the park" and he's been terrified of barking ever since. Mike, Lucy and David teasingly bark at Paulo, and Daisy defends him. Mike says that he never thought Paulo could be this sensitive. Paulo gets defensive and says that his fear doesn't change anything. Daisy disagrees and tells him that she admires how strong he is for opening up. Paulo is visibly flattered and continues to reveal more about himself to Daisy as she continues to fawn over him. 11. Puppy Love Mike receives a large amount of love letters in his locker. He says he's going to reject all of them, and Paulo chimes in that Mike is only rejecting all of the girls because he's gay. While rejecting the girls, Paulo tells them the reason he's rejecting them is because he's gay, which excites them. Paulo comments that Mike is a player, and Paulo claims that Mike has more "hos" than a pimp. Paulo teases that Mike is the first gay pimp he's ever met, much to Mike's annoyance. 12. Confrontation The gang is lost in a city that they don't know of. Mike and Lucy are arguing, which Paulo is enjoying because he thinks if Lucy lets go of Mike, he'll have a shot at her. Paulo attempts to hit on Lucy and gets slapped. Daisy asks why he'd want to bother with her, and Paulo says because she's hot and because he enjoys the chase. Paulo and Daisy then begin to joke and laugh about Lucy's jerky and violent behavior. Mike tries to defend her, claiming that they don't really know her, but Paulo responds by saying there's nothing to know of Lucy except her fist. After going into a bar to use a phone (Sue calls her mom), Mike makes a bet with Alejandro. If Mike can scarf down a whole bowl of liquer chocolates, Alejandro will give him $20. Mike does this, gets the money, and is clearly drunk. He runs into an alley because he says he hears an ice cream truck, and Paulo chases after him. Everyone else follows. It's a dead end, and a radio is playing an ice cream truck song. Mike breaks the radio, and Alejandro and Toby show up. Alejandro tries to get the gang to give up all their money for "breaking his radio", but they refuse. Paulo openly and boldly talks out against Alejandro, claiming he's not scared of him. Alejandro implies that they know each other. Paulo doesn't seem to remember, and charges after him, but Toby barks at him, exploiting his fear. Alejandro kicks him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. He begins crying out of fear. Sue tries to reason with Alejandro, but he punches her in the nose after she smacks his hand. Paulo, angry, gets back up and grabs Alejandro by the shirt. Toby intervenes and shoves Paulo against a wall, and continues to bark at him. He begins to cry again, begs Toby to stop, and tells the others that he can't do anything. Toby kicks him in the chest. After Mike and Lucy save the day, Daisy is crying about how guilty she feels for judging Lucy and Mike so harshly. Paulo comforts her, telling her that no one hates her and they she should apologize if it'll make her feel better. He tells her that he just wants to see her happy, and if he sees her crying at school, "he'll give Mike a piece of his mind". The next day at school, he tells David that he single-handedly beat up a bunch of thugs. 13. Aftermath When Mike arrives at school, Paulo is talking about a girl who is absent because she has mono. Mike, thinking he's talking about Lucy (since they kissed the day prior), defensively chimes in, saying it wasn't him. Paulo, confused, says he know it wasn't Mike, because he's "too much of a pussy" to get with Katie. Mike spends the whole day thinking about Lucy, and when David pops up behind him asking if he wants some kisses (referring to Hershey's Kisses), Mike accidentally punches him. Paulo notices that he's been acting weird all day and asks why. Mike gets defensive, Lucy chimes in with an insult, Mike and Lucy begin arguing, and Paulo leaves while they do. 14. Field Day The school year is coming to a close, and it's everyone's last field day. Sue comments on how Paulo always beats her, and Paulo nearly tells her that it's not his fault she's so terrible, before catching himself. He instead puts his arm around her and tells her that if she tries her best, she'll probably beat him. The students begin to team up for the Three-Legged Race. Paulo is teamed up with Mike but comes in second against Lucy and Kizuna. Lucy is out of breath and sweating, and after she leaves, Paulo comically tells Mike "how turned on he is" and how hot Lucy sounded when she was out of breath. For the next activity, the Wheelbarrow Race, Lucy teams up with Paulo. Mike and Lucy argue over who gets Paulo, but he chooses Lucy because "she has a vagina". When in position, he comments that Lucy's pose is hot, and she kicks him in the face. Lucy and Paulo lose the race to Mike and Kizuna. As Lucy and Mike argue over who won, Paulo claims he's the real winner because he got to "wheel" Lucy around in that position. During another race, Mike "trips" (but actually breaks his leg) in an attempt to lose the race to let Lucy when. Paulo runs past him, aware of what he was doing and tells him he's corny. Category:Main Characters Category:Official